FROM DUST TO GOLD

The first exhibition in the Montana Hall, FROM DUST TO GOLD, is about everyday reading matter. During the 1500s-1700s the general public was avidly reading small, cheap, use-and-discard printed papers: novels, broadsheet ballads, handbooks, newsletters, cookery books, music books etc.

Unlike ‘real’ books these small printed items were not thought worthy of preserving – and today they are therefore great rarities.

The many diverse publications give us a unique insight into ordinary, daily life and the imaginary world of the majority of people who would not then have been called upon to voice their opinions.